Thoughts, feelings and intuitive impressions

Here's a question that sounds simple and really isn't: how do you tell the difference between a thought and an intuitive impression?

Because let's be honest, your head is busy. There's a constant running commentary in there. What you should have said. What you need from the shop. Whether that email sounded rude. Why someone hasn't replied. It's a lot.

Somewhere in all that noise, intuition is also trying to get a word in.

Thoughts tend to argue

Thoughts usually come with reasons attached. They build a case. "If I do this, then that might happen, and then..." They loop, they negotiate, they go back and check.

That's not a bad thing. Thinking is brilliant. It's how you pay your bills and remember birthdays.

But you'll often notice that thoughts get louder the more attention you give them. Your brain is very good at turning a five-minute decision into a full committee meeting.

Intuitive impressions tend to arrive

An intuitive impression often feels different. It tends to arrive rather than be built. It's frequently brief. It might be a word, a picture, a sense of direction, a feeling in your body, or simply a knowing.

And often, not always, but often, it doesn't come with a big explanation. It just is.

Now, I'm going to be careful here, because I don't want to give you a neat little rule that falls apart in real life. Sometimes intuition does come with reasons. Sometimes a thought pops in suddenly and it's just a random thought. So this isn't a test you can pass or fail. It's a tendency you can start to recognise.

Emotional reactions

Emotions are another layer. They're powerful, they're real and they're valid. But they're also reactive. They respond to what's happening and to what's happened before.

If someone speaks to you in a tone that reminds you of a person who used to make you feel small, you might feel a rush of defensiveness. That rush is real. It's telling you something about your history. It's not necessarily telling you something true about the person in front of you.

That's not me saying "ignore your emotions." It's me saying "notice where they might be coming from."

Knowing versus assuming

This is a big one.

An assumption is a conclusion you've reached based on limited information, and usually based on what you're scared of or what you're used to. "They haven't replied, so they're annoyed with me." That's an assumption.

Knowing tends to feel steadier and doesn't need to keep convincing you. Assumptions usually need constant feeding. You'll notice yourself going back to them, checking them, building them up.

One simple test: if you have to keep telling yourself something to keep believing it, it's probably an assumption.